


I'm not you, Jack

by gravityfell



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Borderlands: Borderlands 1, Borderlands: Borderlands 2, Borderlands: Tales from the Borderlands, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Jack is an asshole, Other, Timothy Lawrence deserves better, Very angsty but has a happy ending, bc thats my fave game and i know everything about it, but shhh no more spoilers, chapter 6 onwards should be more fluff than angst, hes my angel baby, i cant tag so i guess thats all, i mean its borderlands jack kills people, only sometimes, timothy is an angel, uhhh big references and spoilers for borderlands the presequel, whats new, yall know i could never REALLY hurt Tim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 04:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17418896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravityfell/pseuds/gravityfell
Summary: Jack's manic laughter and the sound of burning flesh drowned out his screams."Can you feel it, doppelganger? Can you feel what it's like to be me?"Timothy opened his eyes and saw nothing, his head spun, the smell of burning flesh nauseating him, he still did not feel like Jack.Tim's life after Elpis, and eventually, after Jack.





	I'm not you, Jack

The shock emitted from the relic electrified the air, making Timothy stagger back as he shielded his face from the harsh purple light. Jack looked at the relic with wonder, stepping forward ever so slightly;  
“Isn’t it beautiful, body double? And it’s all mine.”  
Timothy felt sick to his stomach as he watched the man, he loathed reach out to claim something that held so much power. The Jack that Timothy met was loud, narcissistic, and condescending, but he wasn’t evil. He had a genuine desire to save Elpis, to be a hero, but something had changed. The events on Elpis reshaped Jack, unlocked a hidden Evil within him. Loud footsteps dragged Timothy from his thoughts, he watched from the other side of the vault as Lilith Punched the relic, burning hot metal scorching Jack’s face. Timothy doesn’t know if it’s from losing his pride, his face, or from the relic itself, but something snapped inside Jack as he let out a strangled cry, the noise piercing Timothy’s ears. The hero that saved Elpis died, and a villain who was sure to doom Pandora for years to come was born.

Timothy’s hands are shaking as he hands the rag to Jack, who is struggling to stand, pressing heavily into Timothy’s side.  
“Get me to a doctor, NOW.”  
Jack screamed manically, his breathing ragged, faced twisted with pain.  
“T-the medical ship should be coming soon, sir”  
Timothy stuttered out, throat dry from anxiety, his own chest feeling tight. They finally approach the dropship dock, Jack sliding down the wall, face covered entirely by the rag.  
“I saw it, Doppelganger.”  
He croaks, amusement evident in his voice, short, sporadic giggles erupting from his throat.  
“Saw what, sir”  
Timothy’s voice is small, his hands shakily grab hold of his holstered pistol.  
“The end to this madness.”  
Jack is weak and vulnerable, one eye destroyed by the relic, the other dangerously swollen, he’s twitchy and out of reality, Timothy could so easily kill him, a bullet to the brain, end the sad and pathetic life of Jack, the lowly Hyperion programmer, but he can’t, because he’s not Jack. Timothy struggles to kill out of self-defence, ending the lives of Scav’s is difficult for him, there is no way he could murder someone, no matter how much he hates them. Timothy really hates Jack. 

When they reach Helios, Jack is whisked away by the medical team, leaving Timothy alone. Workers have begun to return to the space station, cleaning bots cleansing the carnage, his carnage. Something has shifted in Helios, Tastier desperately tries to regain the trust of his people, but all is too late, his pictures are torn out, spray painted over. The name ‘Jack’ plastered on every wall. They want Jack and that makes Timothy feel sick. They don’t know the monster behind the charming smile and the hero complex. Maybe they’ll all have to find out the hard way, looking into the barrel of Jack’s gun. The workers keep talking to him, confused that he’s not scarred, Tim is getting tired of explaining that he’s only a body double, so he leaves the common area, stumbling into the living quarters. He makes his way to his own, completely untouched room. The only thing Timothy had been doing on Helios up until this moment was fighting, so maybe a nap would be nice. 

Timothy awakes with a jolt to a loud booming voice that matched his own;  
“Up! Doppelganger, we have some business to take care of.”  
Timothy feels his heart catch in his throat as he looks at Jack, a mask similar, but ever so slightly different to his real face now attached with crude metal clips, almost like Jack wanted it to be known he’s wearing a mask. Jack passes a holograph to Timothy,  
“This will digistruct a mask for you, I’m not quite ready to let go of my old face yet. Meet me in my office in ten.”  
With that Jack exits the room, leaving Timothy with a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He turns the device on, stumbling to the mirror. Once again he doesn’t recognise the face he see’s when he looks in the mirror. Rage fills his chest, if they have the technology to digistruct a mask, surely they could digistruct an entire Jack disguise, so why did he have to go through horrific surgery and lose his identity for the man he loathes. Timothy lets out a stuttering breath, no use dwelling on his reality, so he stumbles from his room, speed walking to Jack’s office. Timothy never really registered how massive Helios is, most of his time being spend either in Jack’s office or the veins of Helios, but now he has time to really study the intricacies of the space station. Leaving the living quarters Timothy reaches the main office spaces of Helios. Large, interconnecting buildings is where most of the workers reside, every division (bar RnD) being represented in the maze of hallways and rooms, workers depressed at the menial jobs they are forced to do, many never seeing their family, Timothy thinks having Jack in charge will only make this worse. He reaches the recreational area, the doors of Jack’s office covered by workers desperate to get a peak at the changed Jack, the man who saved Elpis. If Timothy had anymore of an ego he would be mad that Jack is getting all the credit for what was mostly his work, but Timothy is glad to be under the radar as much as he is for someone with Jack’s face.

Tim pushes his way through the crowd, jamming in the key to Jack’s office as quickly as he can. He isn’t sure whether it’s the urgency of Jack’s meeting, the pitying stares of the crowd, or Jack’s newfound insanity that makes him feel this way, but Timothy is almost certain that he is going to die at the hands of Jack, whether today or 10 years in the future, and Tim already feels like mourning the loss of what could have been his life. He knows if Janey was here, she’d be telling him to leave now, to put that ‘creative mind’ she seems to think he has to good use and find an escape route. Timothy knows it wouldn’t work, he’s too stupid to actually come up with a decent plan, and too weak to directly rebel against authority, even if he hates Jack, he feels obliged to listen to him, which is why he’s currently standing at Jack’s desk, palms sweating at the intensity of Jack’s glare.  
“We both know what needs to happen, don’t we Doppelganger?”  
Jack says, and Timothy feels his stomach drop, maybe he had a little bit of hope he would at least make it through this week.  
“Uh, n-no sir, I don’t know what you mean.”  
A smile creeps onto Jack’s face.  
“Ohoho you-you don’t think I’m going to kill you, do you? Well I mean I probably will, but not today. No, today we’re killing someone else.”  
The amusement in Jack’s voice makes Tim feel sick, the last thing Timothy wants to do is kill. Before Timothy can respond, Jack continues talking, the amused tone turning into a slight giggle.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll be doing all the hard work, as usual, I just need you to be my Handsome distraction.”  
Timothy is handed a gun and pushed down the corridor to the fast travel machine. Timothy silently hopes the machine messes up and transports one of them, preferably himself, somewhere far away on Pandora, where he’ll be safe(ish) from Jack and his Hyperion goons. He knows this won’t happen though, Timothy has quite possibly the worst luck in the universe. He feels the rush of electricity jolt through him, feeling disorientated as the fast travel ends, a feeling he’ll probably never get used to. It only takes Timothy a second to realise where they are, Tasiter’s office. The greedy prick has made his office to large its not hard to hide in, Timothy could probably yell, and the git wouldn’t hear him.  
“Ok, Doppelganger, all you have to do is stride in there and say something I would, except don’t mention murder, I want that part to be a surprise.”  
With that, Tim is pushed forward, mind racing with what to say. Tim will be the first person to admit that he makes a horrible Jack. He majored in creative writing, not acting. Did they really expect shy, awkward Timothy to suddenly wake up being able to act exactly like Jack, the cocky asshole? Even if he tried, really immersed himself in his role, everyone instantly knew it wasn’t really Jack they were speaking to. Even side by side the two weren’t indistinguishable. Timothy was an inch taller, presumably the surgery failed to correct his natural height, and where Jack stood proud, chest out, Timothy cowered in on himself, his awkward nature radiating from him. This is why, when he strode into Tasiter’s office, head held unnaturally high, Tasiter gives Timothy an unimpressed look.  
“Uh, Tasiter, I am really angry with you. I am here to yell. “  
Nailed it.  
“I’m sure you are, body double, mind telling me where the real Jack is?”  
A deep sigh is heard from behind Tasiter, before Jack jumps out, hands violently grabbing Tasiter by the throat. Timothy turns away, blocking out the sounds of his CEO being murdered by the man he so fervently despises. Hyperion is doomed, Jack, Handsome Jack as he apparently going by now, is going to run the biggest company in the galaxy, and millions of people are going to die because of it.  
“Your acting could use some work, but the job’s done I suppose, dismissed until I need you again.”  
The moment the words leave Jack’s mouth, Tim is speed walking to the fast travel, there is nothing he wants more right now than to be away from Jack.

Timothy feels a wave of exhaustion hit him as he realises, this is going to be his life forever. With Jack in charge, his ‘6-year contract’ doesn’t mean shit, for as long as Jack’s alive, Timothy will be under control, his only escape will be when Jack dies, or when Jack kills him. If he’s being honest, death seems better than living for decades as Handsome Jack.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I haven't written in a while so I am definitely rusty lol. Sorry chapter 1 is kinda boring, its lowkey just retelling an extended version of the ending of the pre sequel as a kind of set up, once i deviate from set canon hopefully it will get more interesting. Anyway, thanks again for reading <3
> 
> ps. sorry for any mistakes im the worst proof reader on earth


End file.
